Former US President Donald Trump has lamented that his generals were not as loyal to him as he thought German generals were to dictator Adolf Hitler during World War II, The New Yorker reports in a report based on a new book of investigative journalism. .
In particular, we are talking about Trump’s idea to hold a large military parade with tanks and other heavy equipment through the streets of Washington on the occasion of the celebration of Independence Day.
Then the “number two” on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Paul Selva, replied that it was a bad idea, very expensive and that “this is what dictators do,” which angered Trump.
Damned generals! Why can’t you be like the German generals?” Trump snapped. “What generals?” asked Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Kelly. “German generals in World War II,” Trump replied.
“Did you know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and nearly succeeded?” Kelly objected. “No no no. They were absolutely loyal to him,” Trump said.
Trump also clashed with senior military commanders when he told them he didn’t want disabled people or wheelchairs in the parade, as he saw in Paris on a recent visit. “I don’t want them. They don’t give me a good image,” he said.
“They are heroes,” Kelly replied. “In our society, there is only one class of people more heroic, and that is those who are buried in Arlington,” the historic American military cemetery where Kelly himself buried his son, who died in Afghanistan. Kelly was removed from office at the end of 2018, and in 2019 the Washington Military Parade was held.
Trump had already expressed his admiration for Hitler in 2018, Kelly said, when he said that “Hitler did a lot of good things” in economic matters, although a spokesman for the then president denied the facts, calling them “fake news.”
In addition, some generals, such as Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley, feared that Trump would provoke a conflict with Iran after losing the November 2021 election to try to stay in power. Milli even traveled to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convince him not to push Trump in that direction. “If you do that, we will have a damned war,” General Netanyahu said.
The New Yorker article is based on The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021, written by magazine journalist Susan Glasser and The New York Times White House correspondent Peter Baker.
In response to the article, Trump told The New Yorker that “these are people with very little talent, and once I realized that, I stopped relying on them and started relying on real generals and admirals.”
Source: El Correo
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.